Why Babies Mouth Everything

Question: "Why does everything end up in my baby's mouth? Now that he's mobile, I'm worried that he's going to eat something he shouldn't — like the dog's food! How can I get him to stop?"

His favorite blanket, the rubber ducky in the tub, a board book, the piece of fuzz on the rug, yesterday’s cereal on the floor — anything that crosses your baby’s path will probably end up in his mouth. You can’t stop a baby from mouthing his way through his days — and from what doctors are learning about the way babies develop their immune systems, you probably shouldn’t worry too much about some of the more repulsive things that end up in baby’s mouth (just the ones that can be unsafe).

The old way of thinking about an infant’s everything-in-mouth habit was that it was a key component of baby development — that mouthing is how babies learn about the world, one lick at a time. And while that’s true, some experts now think there’s even more to mouthing — that a baby might be mouthing the yucky stuff to get healthier (even though he doesn’t know that’s what he’s doing).

When your baby picks something up off the ground (the pacifier that’s been hanging out with the dust bunnies behind the sofa, say, or a dead beetle in the backyard) and sticks it in his mouth, the bacteria and viruses he exposes himself to give the immune system a chance to fight them off — and makes your baby stronger.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you should let your baby mouth anything he comes across — some things are harmful and can make your baby very ill. Nor is anyone proposing a return to filth. But it does mean that you can keep germaphobic tendencies in check. After you review the babyproofing basics, here are some more safety guidelines for safe-but-not-obsessive parenting:

Patrol whatever room your baby’s in for choke-size items. When you come upon anything small enough to fit all the way inside your baby’s mouth (loose change, an older child’s toys, and yes, dog kibble), store it where he can’t reach it.

Babies don’t know what’s safe and what isn’t — it’s all fascinating to them. So put anything that’s potentially poisonous (medicine, nail polish, cleaning products, wine) out of reach and out of sight.

That stale Cheerio that was on the kitchen floor a second ago and is now in your baby’s mouth is probably okay. But food that’s spoiling (or ready to — like the food in the dog’s bowl) isn’t safe because those bacteria could make your baby sick. Another concern: food that falls onto a damp or wet area (bacteria multiply more rapidly on wet surfaces) or food that’s been mouthed and then left behind.

Let your baby explore outside — even when it means a handful of sand from the beach or grass from the backyard ends up in his mouth. If you screw up your face and say, “Yucky,” you’ll help reinforce what he’s learning on his own (“Sand doesn’t taste good”). You won’t be able to stop your baby’s mouthing habit, but you can channel it (eventually).

Accept that no matter what, your baby will mouth things you never would (at least, not since you were an adorable mouthing infant yourself!). Make a good-faith effort to keep things basically clean (think “clean enough,” not “pristine”) and to prevent him from doing something that could put him in harm’s way. You and your little one will be better for this straightforward and relatively easygoing attitude.

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